Friday, February 17, 2012

Tbilisi, Georgia. The Georgian Chess Federation and the ACP are hosting the event, starting February 17 and ending February 22, 2012! The "ACP" is the Association of Chess Professionals and, frankly, darlings, I thought it had gone defunct! Shows how much I know, har :) I think this is the official website - in English (but don't quote me on that).

There will be 10 rounds of play plus a tie-break, if necessary. The rounds are spaced closely together, so this isn't traditional chess, or even chess using the new and improved FIDE time controlled that were put into place some years ago in order to "speed up" the game.

Goddess! U.S. Women's Champion IM Anna Zatonskih has been extremely active in Europe lately. Good for her. She is one of the professional female players who is balancing a family life while trying to pursue (and improve in the game) a career in chess. Of the women invitees, I know that Pia Cramling, Alexandra Kosteniuk, Kateryna Lahno and Anna Zatonskih all have young children. It could be that some of the other players could also have children, but I just haven't read about it.

It's a damn tough life, travelling for months at a time, being constantly away from your loved ones, particularly your small children. There is something out of whack with an economic system that forces people to make such excruciating choices in order to try and make a living. I don't care what the sex of the chessplayer (or worker) is; surely it is as hard on fathers to be constantly away from their families, too. But, you know the drill - Macho Man and all that baloney. Sigh.

The ladies, on the other hand, are usually very frank and open in interviews about how much they miss their husbands and children. In Anna Zatonskih's and GM Pia Cramling's cases, they are both married to chessplayers, which means that both parents are often on the road (sometimes together, but often apart), playing the Euro chess circuit and playing hit-or-miss in other invitationals around the world, as well as in the big Opens (but the chance to win big money in a popular Open that attracts other equally financially hungry players is much less).

It's brutal. I cannot imagine what such a life would be like. I cannot even manage to find some hours a week to do a one-hour chess lesson. I have to try and squeeze it in on a weekend - impossible! Or try to do it after a 12-hour day at the office. Try to focus! Neither is a good choice and, for the time being, I'm given up trying. I just have too many other things to do, and while I love chess and I would like to improve my playing skills, on the rank of items from 1 to 10, that is down about number 20.

Anyway, I wish all of these wonderfull talented players a lot of luck, and of course, being a USA gal myself, I'm rooting for Anna Zatonskih, with a close second for Florida resident GM Alexandra Kosteniuk, the 12th Women's World Chess Champion.

The matches start on February 18, 2012. Here are the pairings for Round 1:

I confess to being totally confused by the headline of this article! But this "Mother Goddess" --regardless of her putative age (or lack thereof), she's a real beauty. Looked at face on, I was immediately reminded of the ancient image of another "Mother Goddess" - She of Catal Hoyuk - large breasts, big bellied (possibly pregnant), seated upon a throne, her hands resting on the heads of two felines flanking either side of her throne. She is not very large, although I have always gotten the impression that she is gigantic! No, she is a carefully carved votive figure, apparently, for she was found inside what was a grain storage bin!

Here She is, one of the most iconic images in the world! Discovered in 1961 by archaeologist
James Mellaart, She rests now in a museum in Ankara, Turkey. Interestingly, the caption under thisphotograph says that She is from 6th century BCE -- which would mean sometime between 700 - 600 BCE.
Oh please! Everyone knows She's at least 7,000 years old, which means 5,000 - 4000 BCE!

Am I mistaken? Does not this much larger Indian version of the Mother Goddess look like she has large breasts, a large belly, and two arms resting on - something. Her legs, perhaps? Which means she is either seated on something or squatting... You can see from the photo on the right that this is not a three-dimensionally carved standing statue, but looks more like a wall plaque. Fascinating, absolutely fascinating.

Statue of mother Goddess dating back to 3rd Century B.C. discovered by Archaeological Survey of India at Sri Chalukya Kumara Bheemeswara Swamy temple at Samarlakota in East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh near Kakinada

The first-ever ‘Mother Goddess' image carved in sandstone rock — representing the earliest perception of idolising woman as Goddess dating back to 3 Century BC — has been found close to the Sri Chalukya Kumara Bheemeswara Swamy temple at Samarlakota near Kakinada in East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh. [Do they mean between 400 and 300 BCE, or do they mean 4000 to 3000 BCE? Big difference!]

Archaeological Survey of India's Superintending Archaeologist R. Krishnaiah, told The Hindu that while conducting an exploration around the Bheemeswara Swamy temple to ascertain its origin and antiquity, their Deputy Superintending Archaeologist D. Kanna Babu discovered the stunning and unique image of a seated mother goddess (Yakshini), in a remote corner outside the temple.

The centuries old temple is revered as one of the ‘Pancharama Kshetras.' From the archaeological research point of view, the ‘mother goddess' sculpture was a rare discovery, said Mr. Krishnaiah. This find would be vital for reconstructing the cultural life of ancient Andhra, the origin and evolution of early cultural art. This idol was believed to be from the Ashoka period in 3 Century BC.

Samarlakota might have played a vital role with prominent cultural activity from the early times dating back to the 11 century Chalukya period, he added. “We will conduct more explorations in the near future to bring out archaeological richness of the ancient Godavari Valley,” he said.

The archaeologist Mr. Babu, who made the discovery, said that such an early image of Mother Goddess had not been found so far in entire South India in stone media. The highly eroded sandstone sculpture is 150 cm tall, 67 cm wide and 28 cm thick life-size form of a Mother Goddess seated on a broad pedestal.

“Her facial physiognomic feature is roundish, dignified with chubby cheeks, wide open eyes, a broad heavy nose, and close cut tender pair of lips. She is potbellied, her arms and wrists are embellished with a series of big bangles and she is wearing earrings. The head is covered with a beautiful head-dress, but it is in a deeply eroded state.”

The drapery covers her waist, hanging down between her legs and bears folds. Hands rest on her thighs and hold something which the ASI presumes are foodgrain. Mr. Babu says these features have striking similarities with the unique Yaksha, Yakshini images unearthed at important cultural sites like Beta, Patna, Deedarganj, Lauria, Nandanagarh, and Amaravathi of the Mauryan period.

The ASI team included K. Veeranjaneyulu, senior archaeologist, and KVSSN Murthy, caretaker.

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Fascinating. Wondering, now, whether the preoccupation I've had with birds over the past week or more (just some beautiful images of them that I framed, and wondering where to put up in my in-progress redecoration of my bedroom -- well, you know, something on the 'ether'... and maybe that the robins have been back in my neck of the woods in Wisconsin for 3 weeks already, singing their heads off every morning as I make the long trek to the bus stop to go to drudgery at the office...

The birds in the Iliad help warriors and kings make difficult decisions and satisfy the basic human need for self-esteem and security.
This is the conclusion of a new doctoral thesis from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, that analyses 35 bird scenes in Homer’s Iliad from around 700 B.C.
In the Iliad, gods use birds to disguise themselves and as transmitters of messages to humans.

Similarly, humans use birds as signs and symbols that they interpret to acquire knowledge about the presence and identities of gods and their intentions for the future. Birds therefore have a very important function as intermediaries between humans and their gods.
‘The birds are central in the event structure of the Iliad. They often appear in dangerous and important war situations and prior to risky journeys. Receiving a positive bird sign from the gods in those situations strengthened the warriors’ fighting spirit and ability to fight, but it also evoked a sense of relief since it indicated that the god was with them,’ says the author of the thesis Karin Johansson.
In her thesis, Johansson identifies the different bird species that are included in the Iliad and shows that they are carefully selected to fit into the particular situations and environments where they appear. The most common species are the peregrine falcon, the rock dove and the golden eagle, but also the so-called bearded vulture, with is very uncommon today.

‘It is important to identify the birds and pay attention to their behaviour and characteristics. The specific species are also chosen to convey and add specific information. If we neglect these details, we also lose important parts of the messages,’ says Johansson.

Johansson’s research on Homer’s birds is unique, since previous research mainly has focused on the symbolic functions of the birds and on whether a bird is a transformed god or should be interpreted as a mere metaphor. The ornitological identities, behaviour and characteristics of the birds have never been given much attention in the past. Johansson’s thesis sheds light on how the birds in the Iliad challenge the modern scientific division of ‘nature’ and ’culture’ and to some extent the way we think, since the birds are both birds in a zoological sense and signs and symbols at the same time.

‘Focusing on the birds in the Iliad helps us better understand the deepest wishes, reliefs and fears of the human characters, it also helps us understand how deeply rooted the birds are in the persons’ lives and way of thinking. The situations and events in the Iliad centre around war and others dangers in life, and there is no doubt that the birds are very important to the human characters in those situations,’ says Johansson.

Source: University of Gothenburg

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Hmmmm, well, whatever...

The focus of this thesis is extremely narrow. It says nothing, for instance, to the much older use of birds in imagery, ritual and legend in cultures than the Greeks, such as Egypt and Sumer, for instance.

Call me biased, but it seems to me that the very earliest images of birds ever recorded [in paintings or carved] by mankind were of bird-goddesses, sometimes also known as eye-goddesses. Some scholars equate eye-goddess images to owls... Just saying.

We still have the Sacred Bird with us today, in the image of the Holy Dove, for instance, in Roman Catholic iconography.

Imagine if a university without a basketball program recruited Mike Krzyzewski, the legendary coach at Duke University, and not only managed to hire him but also persuaded most of his team to switch with him. In essence, that is what Webster University in St. Louis has done by hiring Susan Polgar, the head of the Texas Tech chess program.

Ms. Polgar, a grandmaster and a former women’s world champion, was hired by Texas Tech University in 2007 to create an elite chess program. The university even named the program after her, calling it the Susan Polgar Institute for Chess Excellence, or Spice.

Last April, Texas Tech won the Final Four of Chess, a competition in Herndon, Va., among the top collegiate teams in the country. It was Texas Tech’s first championship since Ms. Polgar arrived at the university.

Now Ms. Polgar and her husband, Paul Truong, the manager of the chess team, are leaving Texas Tech, which is spread over more than 1,800 acres in Lubbock and has more than 32,000 students. They are heading to Webster, a university mostly geared toward postgraduate students around the world, whose main campus in St. Louis is 47 acres. The chess program at Webster will be called Spice.

The top 10 players at Texas Tech — eight grandmasters and two international masters, some of whom had just committed to the university — are also switching. They are scheduled to start in the fall; Ms. Polgar is to begin on June 1. On paper, Webster will have the No. 1 ranked team in the country.

In an interview with KCBD, NBC’s local affiliate in Lubbock, Mr. Truong said the switch was caused by a lack of financial resources at Texas Tech. Ms. Polgar told KCBD that the program grew too quickly for the university to accommodate it.

Chris Cook, a spokesman for Texas Tech, said that budget cuts had affected several teams but that they were still adequately financed. “We are giving the programs what they need to compete,” Mr. Cook said. He said the university intended to hire a new coach and a new manager to succeed Ms. Polgar and Mr. Truong.

Julian Z. Schuster, the provost of Webster University, said he was responsible for recruiting and hiring Ms. Polgar and establishing the team. Mr. Schuster said that he and Ms. Polgar had mutual friends and that he had learned she was thinking about leaving Texas Tech. They exchanged e-mails, and Ms. Polgar went to visit.

“Technically, I don’t know who winked first,” Mr. Schuster said. “You know the old expression: it takes two to tango.”

Mr. Schuster said Webster had an endowment of about $80 million and was financing the new program, including the cost of scholarships, entirely on its own. The financial commitment would run at least long enough for the students who are matriculating, some of whom are freshmen, to graduate. Mr. Schuster said that having a top team would eventually more than pay for itself by raising Webster’s profile and stimulating interest in the university.

Mentioning that Webster has campuses in more than 100 places around the world, Mr. Schuster, who grew up in the former Yugoslavia, where chess is popular, said: “I did not grow up in this country. I do not play football. I do not have this connection from the old country. Chess is a global game, and we live in global times. And Webster is a global university.”

Distinguishing itself from other universities was one of the primary reasons Texas Tech created its chess program five years ago. Other universities — including the University of Texas at Dallas and the University of Maryland, Baltimore County — have made similar decisions.

James A. Stallings, the director of the Dallas chess program, said Webster’s recruitment of such a top team was “unprecedented,” pointing out that most programs start from scratch.

(Coincidentally, just three days before Webster made its announcement on Feb. 3, Lindenwood University, a liberal arts institution just outside of St. Louis that has 17,000 students, said it was starting a chess program and had hired a local grandmaster named Ben Finegold as its coach.)

Mr. Stallings said he was a little concerned from a fairness standpoint about Webster recruiting so many of Texas Tech’s players as well as its coaching staff, but he welcomed the creation of another top program.

“It validates the concept,” Mr. Stallings said. “It is a good thing for scholastic youth in this country.”

Mr. Schuster at Webster said simply, “To use the chess analogy, I think we made the right move.”

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"Advanced Chess" Leon 2002

About Me

I'm one of the founders of Goddesschess, which went online May 6, 1999. I earned an under-graduate degree in history and economics going to college part-time nights, weekends and summer school while working full-time, and went on to earn a post-graduate degree (J.D.) I love the challenge of research, and spend my spare time reading and writing about my favorite subjects, travelling and working in my gardens. My family and my friends are most important in my life. For the second half of my life, I'm focusing on "doable" things to help local chess initiatives, starting in my own home town. And I'm experiencing a sort of personal "Renaissance" that is leaving me rather breathless...